This disclosure relates to sealing areas of a gas turbine engine and, more particularly, to sealing interfaces between circumferentially adjacent components, such as inner air seals.
A gas turbine engine typically includes a fan section, a compressor section, a combustor section, and a turbine section. Air entering the compressor section is compressed and delivered into the combustor section where it is mixed with fuel and ignited to generate a high-speed exhaust gas flow. The high-speed exhaust gas flow expands through the turbine section to drive the compressor and the fan section. The compressor section typically includes low and high pressure compressors, and the turbine section includes low and high pressure turbines.
In some gas turbine engines, a speed reduction device, such as an epicyclical gear assembly, is utilized to drive the fan section such that the fan section may rotate at a speed different and typically slower than the turbine section to provide a reduced part count approach for increasing the overall propulsive efficiency of the engine. In such engine architectures, a shaft driven by one of the turbine sections provides an input to the epicyclical gear assembly that drives the fan section at a reduced speed so that both the turbine section and the fan section can rotate at closer to optimal speeds.
Gas turbine engines can include various sealing interfaces, such as rotor knife edges that seal against inner air seals. Interfaces between circumferentially adjacent inner air seals can undesirably allow flow from one axial side of the inner air seal to another axial side of the inner air seal.